Opened your mailbox lately to find a random household object in with your daily selection of bills and junk?
Don’t be creeped out by the mysterious placement, and definitely don’t remove it — your mailman will thank you.
Here’s why it’s there: As temps rise, out come the yellowjackets and wasps. And apparently, they’ve got a thing for dark, cozy mailboxes.
Unless, of course, there’s something in there they don’t like: scented dryer sheets.
Which is why mail carriers across the country are turning to the unlikely weapon.
“We’re almost to the month of May which means… the return of those dastardly devils,” wrote one postal worker in a Reddit post that’s buzzing across the internet and resurfacing the timetested method just in time for the summer seaason.
“We’ve found that they hate scented dryer sheets,” the aforementioned letter carrier revealed. “If we encounter a box that is a problem for nests, we’ll often put one in there and it does the trick.”
So before you freak out and think your house has been marked for a home invasion — yes, someone in the thread did float that theory — consider this your official PSA: Leave the sheet alone.
“I can’t tell you how many times… I’ve opened up a box to see a little nest with 3-5 Yellowjackets just chillin,” the same carrier wrote. “Last year alone I was stung 10 times on 10 separate occasions.”
And these aren’t gentle greetings from nature. “We all know how temperamental these little douchebags are,” the mailperson added. “Merely existing in their presence is enough to piss them off.”
The trick isn’t just a fringe tactic — Redditors have chimed in to say it works at restaurants too. “We learned long ago to put a few dryer sheets under the tablecloths on the patio,” one Californian wrote. “Yellowjackets often get into the guests’ plates, especially if they smell salmon.”
The scent is the secret sauce — not the brand. And while it’s a handy deterrent, it’s not a fix for full-blown infestations.
“This should only be used as a preventative measure,” the mail carrier clarified. “It would be best to get rid of the large nest and then put a dryer sheet in to keep them from coming back.”
Think twice before declaring your mailbox a lavender-free zone — because technically, it’s not even yours.
“If you’re in the USA your mailbox isn’t personal property,” one commenter reminded. “The inside of the box is federal.”
The original poster summed it up best: “I’ve had to put dryer sheets in a few different boxes on my route and the customers have been removing them. So I just wanted to make a PSA.”
And before you think that mailing letters is a thing of a bygone era, you might be surprised to learn that Gen Zers and millennials are sending off snail mail, according to a survey conducted by Stamps.com last fall.
As previously reported by The Post, Nick Spitzman, Stamps.com general manager, said in the study, “Our research shows that mail is still incredibly relevant today.”
Nearly 65% of folks still send letters and packages each month, and almost half of Zoomers drop something in the mail once or twice a month.
About 37% of Americans say the personal touch is what seals the deal when it comes to snail mail — nothing beats the thrill of a handwritten note.
For 41% of Gen Xers, it’s all about the act of sending itself, while 32% of Gen Zers just want to know their package won’t ghost them.
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